Connector No. 18 Review

by Mallory McSweeney on February 7th, 2010

The Champagne Bar in Ron Black’s on Dawson Street was buzzing with the sounds of new connections being made last Thursday evening as Connector No. 18 brought together dozens of people for a few drinks, a few laughs, and of course  plenty of social networking!  To check out the photos, click here >>

January’s event featured several rounds of speed networking for those interested in making several connections in a short amount of time as well as a few tables of Connect 4 for more casual connecting.  I think there was a record number of business cards exchanged at our eighteenth event!

Connector also raised (money) for Haiti at this free event, which will be donated through Adrian Garry’s trip to Haiti.  And of course thanks to our great volunteers from DIT Event management (1st years) who helped us on the night.

Connector Event No.18 @ Ron Blacks

by Conor on January 21st, 2010

10 FREE tickets to ESB Customer Supply’s Des Bishop Unplugged Gig!

by Sarai Fernandez on January 18th, 2010

DEADLINE EXTENDED !! NEW CLOSING DATE FRI 29TH JAN @ 6PM

We’re giving away 5 pairs of tickets to ESB Customer Supply’s exclusive Des Bishop gig at the Button Factory. Want to be one of our winners? Just add a comment to this post or the Connector Facebook Group with a funny link to a joke or a video and be in with a chance to win 2 tickets to enjoy a unique show, on Wednesday February 3rd.

Just find something funny on the the Internet and you could get one of the 5 pairs of tickets Connector has to give away!

After the gig, there will be a DJ on stage and you will have a good chance to connect with the other Connector guests … So what are you waiting for? Send us your links before 18.00 on January 29th.

Indeed this is the finale to the ESB Customer Supply’s Des Bishop Unplugged energy saving campaign. Since last August Des Bishop has been writing a blog when he shares energy saving tips he’s been learning during this time. Additional tickets can also be won on www.desbishopunplugged.ie.

Good luck!

Bye Bye Movember 2009

by Conor on December 9th, 2009

Well Movember is over and I must say it was a weird experience spending just over a month with a hairy face for the first time !  It takes time to connect with your facial hair (boom boom) and I felt a lot more comfortable with a beard as opposed to a mo.

The Movember Gala Finale Party in Tripod on the 3rd Dec was great fun and well done to Matt & Chewy and the guys from Thinkhouse PR for such a fine party.  A few Paulaners were used to lubricate the tache for the first time as it had been a dry month !

I am pictured with the Lynx Minx and enjoying my blue steel moments.  Having a party to reward the moustahioed community was a great idea and Lynx helped to add a bit of badly needed glamour to an otherwise male dominated night out.

It is a fantastic fundraising idea and the Mo’nnector team raised many hairy lip children and approx €350 for Prostrate Cancer.

Your Christmas Connector Party Invitation

by Conor on December 1st, 2009

Connect with Colm Lyons from Realex Payments

by Conor on December 1st, 2009

BIG thanks to Colm Lyons from Realex Payments for supporting the Christmas Connector Party this year – his company have generously helped us put on this event & we hope you make his team feel very welcome on the night !

Colm was the guy (pictured above left) who presented me with my Internet Marketer of the Year award in 2005 & his company is one of the shining lights of the Irish web scene & he is a great supporter of those trying to follow in his footsteps.

In 2005 Colm was acclaimed and rewarded for his leadership when he was a finalist of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. As an industry figure he was Director and Chairman of the Irish Internet Association for over four years – during which time the association significantly enhanced its position. In 2009 he founded the Internet Growth Alliance in early 2009 to help Irish Internet businesses. Most recently he was awarded the ‘Internet Hero Award’ at the Golden Spiders in Dublin.

The company now employs 70 people in Ireland, Great Britain and France. In addition the company currently has 15 vacancies advertised on its website, as it continues to expand its operations in Ireland and abroad.  They recently announced profits of €720,000 as turnover increase to €6.5 million. The company has experienced year on year growth since its foundation in 2000 & now process payments for over 3500 clients, including Virgin Atlantic, Vodafone, Aer Lingus, Quinn Insurance, Motortax.ie.Wow!

Diary of a Meteor Apprentice

by Rob Cumiskey on November 18th, 2009

Last week, we were proud to announce that one of our own, Izabela Zelazna, was chosen to compete in the Meteor Apprentice competition. Izabela has written a diary entry about her first task in the competition:

My first task in the Meteor Apprentice competition was all about social media. We were given a week to get as many fans as we could for Facebook fan page.

‘Use all possible social media and scream about your case’, my friend told me. Scream is good, I thought, however I didn’t want to create too much noise. I think that people are usually reluctant and slow to join Facebook Fan Pages these days, not wanting their News feed to be spammed.

First of all, I decided to record nice and friendly videos and post them on my Facebook page and YouTube channel. I wanted to spread the word through the networks and personal contacts that I have made so far. Knowing that Meteor is about entertainment, engagement and humour, I wanted to incorporate it all, and make people interact and smile.

The number of people signing in was not impressive though. Facebook may have had spectacular results in reaching 100mln users in 9 months but it was essential for me to understand that my audience is dispersed and the key is to have an interesting twist and share worthwhile content.

With that in mind, half way through the task, I decided to use another angle –to position myself as a foreigner, who aspires to succeeed and boldly goes for a high profile job. I sent this positive release to the press and it worked perfectly. My press release got coverage in two Polish newspapers in Ireland (Gazeta.ie, Polski Express) as well as Polish newspaper in Poland – Gazeta Krakowska. I also asked my international friends from Amsterdam for support.

So after all the effort and campaigning, I ended up with nearly 780 of the most diverse and multinational fans in the whole competition.

This has great potential. What should the next step be?

Connector Lunch @ Saba

by Rob Cumiskey on November 12th, 2009

After last week’s lovely lunch at Little Caeser’s, where we connected with some great people, we’re going back to Saba on Clarendon St, Dublin 2 (where we had some lovely dinner here) for a 1PM lunch this Friday.

Unfortunately we won’t be sponsoring lunch this week, but we’d love you to join us. You will of course be meeting with some great folk from both the online and offline world. In the last few weeks we have had a diverse crowd but quite a few are from Dublin’s fast growing digital scene with people in from Dublin Web Summit, Balcony TV, Facebooth and reps from Truvo & Connector.

Hope to see you there

Connector Launches Event

by Conor on November 11th, 2009

Connector is looking for 10 new businesses to step forward and tell us their story at a great new Connector Event on the 26th November 2009.  We are also accepting newish businesses who have a new web site, web or mobile app or video to show off.  Maybe you have a new fashion design ?  Maybe a new killer home made chocolate bar ?  You tell us what you been up to and we will help you spread the word !

Does this sound like you or a friend of yours ?  If so please register your interest with Event Elephant – The final list of presenters will be unveiled on the 19th November.  Good luck !

Connect with Peter Pans @ D-Light Studios

by Conor on November 10th, 2009

My mate Gingerski has invited me to come and check Peter Pans out and I hope to see you there too – should be interesting as always from d-light studios.  Congrats to Agata for a great write up about her in the Irish Times on the weekend.

Choreographed by Anna Gáciarz, Peter Pans explores the syndrome of the same name, a generation of people who don’t want to grow up, who find it difficult to express love. Peter Pans – people with the body of an adult but the mind of a child…

Peter Pans is the debut performance of 50% Male Experimental Theatre. A combination of physical theatre and contemporary dance theatre, the company comprises of 3 female and 3 male performers.

Cast: Monika Bieniek, Niamh Creely, Anna Gáciarz, Barnaba Dorda, Krzysztof Kminikowski, Tomasz Laskowski
Directed by: Anna Gáciarz
Music: Asian Dub Foundation / Yann Tiersen / Novika (remix) by Marcin Macuk